I’m currently reading The Duke and I and the author is constantly using the word “acerbic”. I had never heard of the word before now and had to google the definition. The word has shown up so much that I’m tempted to go through the book and count its appearances lol.
Have you noticed any authors having favorite words that they use page after page?
The Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer (Annihilation, etc.):
Terroir: 37 times
Banal: 20 times
Mote (as in dust mote): 11 times
Somewhat rarely used words that I would have overlooked a couple instances of, but just so heavily used in these books that it was laughable.
To be fair, words infecting people is a whole ass plot point, and a pretty central one.
“You prefer this place, you really do, don’t you?”